vintage laser sailboat

Published on July 27th, 2016 | by Assoc Editor

A History of the Laser

Published on July 27th, 2016 by Assoc Editor -->

Laser sailing will commence at 13:00 local time on Monday 8 August at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games but what’s the history of the one-person dinghy, where does its roots lie? Well we’ve done all the hard work to provide you with the answers…

Previous Olympic Medalists The first ever Olympic medal in the Laser was won by Brazil’s Robert Scheidt at the Atlanta 1996 Games after a dramatic start line duel with British rival Ben Ainslie. Sydney 2000 saw Ainslie’s revenge, as the Brit match raced the Brazilian for the Gold. Following Ainslie’s switch to the Finn for the Athens 2004 quadrennial Robert Scheidt dominated the class and ultimately made a triumphant return to the top of the podium – his second Olympic Gold medal. Scheidt then switched classes to the Star, leaving another Brit, Paul Goodison, to take Gold at Beijing 2008. London 2012 saw a long-awaited gold for Australia, after years of strong Australian performances Tom Slingsby was finally able to capture the top step for the boxing kangaroos.

Recent World Champions The Rio 2016 quadrennial kicked off in Oman where Robert Scheidt (BRA) announced his return to the Laser in style by taking his ninth Laser World Championship title. Nicholas Heiner (NED) won in 2014 but the Rio 2016 quad was really dominated by Nick Thompson (GBR) who took third place in 2014 and followed it with back to back World Champion titles in 2015 and 2016.

Life as an Olympic Event The Laser never fails to deliver drama to proceedings. Five Olympic sailing competitions have seen it all; fierce rivalries, winner-takes-all match racing, surprise upsets, Olympic firsts and of course some of the closest racing on the Olympic sailing program.

The Laser was introduced to the Games as an open class for the 1996 Quadrennial. The simple single-person dinghy already had a cult following of thousands all over the world and inclusion was almost viewed as a forgone conclusion. In 2004 the Laser was changed to from open to men’s lightweight equipment following the inclusion of the Laser Radial as women’s single person dinghy for the 2008 cycle.

The Laser’s low cost means it has the widest pool of nations competing of any Olympic Sailing Class and it’s not unusual to see sailors from nations that aren’t traditionally viewed as big sailing nations on the podium.

What’s it like to sail? Deceptively simple. The Laser is known as a boat that’s easy to sail badly. Laser sailing and racing presents a unique set of physical and skill based challenges. At the top level it’s a physical class, requiring a very high level of core fitness in order to endure the hiking and body-torque techniques essential to get the boat moving fast.

Short History of the Class and Key specs The Laser is a 4.19m long, 56.7 kg hiking dinghy with a single 7.06 m2 sail. While not the most high performance class at the Games the Laser probably has the most enthusiastic following.

The Laser’s story began with a phone call between Canadians Bruce Kirby and Ian Bruce. A marketing offshoot of Canada’s Hudson Bay Company had asked Bruce to come up with proposals for a line of outdoor sporting equipment, among them was a boat small enough to be carried on a roof rack of a typical car. As they talked Kirby sketched what would be known as “the million dollar doodle”. The now famous sail was the brainchild Hans Fogh who originally designed it without sight of the rest of the boat. Fogh would go on to tweak his design before finally settling on the rig that we know today.

The sailboat idea was ultimately dropped and the drawing remained in Bruce’s drawer for several months until One Design and Offshore Yachtsman magazine held a regatta for boats under $1000 which Kirby and Bruce saw as the perfect opportunity to launch their little dinghy. With some overnight modifications the prototype that would become the Laser won its class.

After more tweaking the first official Laser was officially unveiled at the New York Boat Show in 1971. The class took off immediately. The first world championship was held in three years later in Bermuda. Entrants came from 24 countries, and first place was won by Peter Commette (USA). The Laser was included in the Olympic roster for the first time for Atlanta 1996 quadrennial and has remained an Olympic Class ever since.

Today more Lasers have been sold than any other type of boat – well over two hundred thousand of them! The simplicity and low cost of the design means Lasers can be found everywhere from the Olympic Games to the beach in front of your hotel on holiday. The biggest attraction of the Laser dinghy is that it is protected by strict one-design class rules, which means each Laser is built to the same specifications and modifications to boats are strictly prohibited. This means every boat is virtually identical which leaves it down to the skill of the sailor to win the race.

Famous Faces Arguably the greatest champion of the Laser Class is Robert Scheidt from Brazil with two gold and one silver Olympic medals and nine Laser World Champion titles. Only two other sailors can claim more than two Laser World Champion titles; Tom Slingsby (AUS) has five and fellow countryman Glenn Bourke, three. Scheidt’s fierce rivalry with Sir Ben Ainslie (GBR) is the stuff of legend. The Brazilian master will be aiming for his third medal on home waters in Rio when the games kicks off in just a few days’ time.

On the Rio start line, Scheidt will be joined by a colourful cast of talented athletes, vying for their place on the podium. Pavlos Kontides (CYP) – whose silver medal in London was Cyprus’s first ever – will be looking to go one better. Philipp Buhl (GER) and Ton?i Stipanovi? (CRO) who are never far from the podium will both be looking to add Olympic medallist to their impressive sailing CVs.

The Laser has also been home to big names in the sailing world like Ed Baird (USA), Nik Burfoot (NZL), Gustavo Lima (POR), Michael Blackburn (AUS), Mark Mendelblatt (USA) and Vasilij ?bogar (SLO).

Did you know… The Laser was originally named the “Weekender” with the Prototype sail branded with the letters TGIF for “Thank God it’s Friday”. It was renamed Laser following a suggestion by student Doug Balfour who pointed out that the name ‘Laser’ was modern, recognizable and truly international and that the symmetrical Laser beam logo would only have to go on one side of the sail. The rest is history!

Source: World Sailing

How to follow the Olympics… click here .

Tags: ILCA 7 , Olympic Games , Rio Games

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Laser (International)

Laser (International) is a 13 ′ 8 ″ / 4.2 m monohull sailboat designed by Bruce Kirby and Ian Bruce and built by Performance Sailcraft and LaserPerformance starting in 1970.

• 2 / 19 Deltaville, VA, US 1987 Laser (International) $2,750 USD View
• 3 / 19 Sloatsburg, NY, US 2014 Laser (International) $3,650 USD View
• 4 / 19 Traverse City, MI, US 1979 Laser (International) $2,000 USD View
• 5 / 19 Deltaville, VA, US 1987 Laser (International) $2,750 USD View
• 6 / 19 Sloatsburg, NY, US 2014 Laser (International) $3,650 USD View
• 7 / 19 Traverse City, MI, US 1979 Laser (International) $2,000 USD View
• 8 / 19 Deltaville, VA, US 1987 Laser (International) $2,750 USD View
• 9 / 19 Sloatsburg, NY, US 2014 Laser (International) $3,650 USD View
• 10 / 19 Traverse City, MI, US 1979 Laser (International) $2,000 USD View
• 11 / 19 Deltaville, VA, US 1987 Laser (International) $2,750 USD View
• 12 / 19 Sloatsburg, NY, US 2014 Laser (International) $3,650 USD View
• 13 / 19 Sloatsburg, NY, US 2014 Laser (International) $3,650 USD View
• 14 / 19 Deltaville, VA, US 1987 Laser (International) $2,750 USD View
• 15 / 19 Sloatsburg, NY, US 2014 Laser (International) $3,650 USD View
• 16 / 19 Sloatsburg, NY, US 2014 Laser (International) $3,650 USD View
• 17 / 19 Sloatsburg, NY, US 2014 Laser (International) $3,650 USD View
• 18 / 19 Sloatsburg, NY, US 2014 Laser (International) $3,650 USD View
• 19 / 19 Sloatsburg, NY, US 2014 Laser (International) $3,650 USD View

Rig and Sails

Auxilary power, accomodations, calculations.

The theoretical maximum speed that a displacement hull can move efficiently through the water is determined by it's waterline length and displacement. It may be unable to reach this speed if the boat is underpowered or heavily loaded, though it may exceed this speed given enough power. Read more.

Classic hull speed formula:

Hull Speed = 1.34 x √LWL

Max Speed/Length ratio = 8.26 ÷ Displacement/Length ratio .311 Hull Speed = Max Speed/Length ratio x √LWL

Sail Area / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the power of the sails relative to the weight of the boat. The higher the number, the higher the performance, but the harder the boat will be to handle. This ratio is a "non-dimensional" value that facilitates comparisons between boats of different types and sizes. Read more.

SA/D = SA ÷ (D ÷ 64) 2/3

• SA : Sail area in square feet, derived by adding the mainsail area to 100% of the foretriangle area (the lateral area above the deck between the mast and the forestay).
• D : Displacement in pounds.

Ballast / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the stability of a boat's hull that suggests how well a monohull will stand up to its sails. The ballast displacement ratio indicates how much of the weight of a boat is placed for maximum stability against capsizing and is an indicator of stiffness and resistance to capsize.

Ballast / Displacement * 100

Displacement / Length Ratio

A measure of the weight of the boat relative to it's length at the waterline. The higher a boat’s D/L ratio, the more easily it will carry a load and the more comfortable its motion will be. The lower a boat's ratio is, the less power it takes to drive the boat to its nominal hull speed or beyond. Read more.

D/L = (D ÷ 2240) ÷ (0.01 x LWL)³

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds.
• LWL: Waterline length in feet

Comfort Ratio

This ratio assess how quickly and abruptly a boat’s hull reacts to waves in a significant seaway, these being the elements of a boat’s motion most likely to cause seasickness. Read more.

Comfort ratio = D ÷ (.65 x (.7 LWL + .3 LOA) x Beam 1.33 )

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds
• LOA: Length overall in feet
• Beam: Width of boat at the widest point in feet

Capsize Screening Formula

This formula attempts to indicate whether a given boat might be too wide and light to readily right itself after being overturned in extreme conditions. Read more.

CSV = Beam ÷ ³√(D / 64)

First selected as Olympic class in 1996.

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LASER WORLD CHAMPIONS AND SAILORS

Laser has made its impact all around the world when it comes to sailing, with its competitive champions from all different types of cultures.

“Since January 16, 2009 the official Laser sailboat speed record of 16.8 knots has been held by Mark Denzer of Honolulu, Hawaii.”

• Robert Scheidt
• Nicholas Heiner
• Nick Thompson
• Tom Slingsby
• Richard L. Tillman
• Marit Bouwmeester
• Anna Tunnicliffe

A FEW OTHER NOTABLES

Through the years Laser has made a lot of fans amidst the big names in the sailing world

• Mark Mendelblatt
• Paul Goodison
• Sir Ben Ainslie
• Michael Blackburn

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Master Vintage

Purveyor of vintage, old skool and retro clothing, toys, music, gadgets and other rare junk

Friday, December 26, 2008

1980 rare fed-5b "moscow olympics" com­mem­o­ra­tive edition vintage camera.

Posted by MV at 10:53 PM  

Labels: cameras , lomography

2 comments:

Really great research about the origins of this camera. Its really not that rare, I bought my in Bosnia for $4, and they had stacks of them lying around.

Do you have any idea how many of these 'Olympic editions' were manufactured?

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